Justin Weber, founder of Ampsandsound (link), had an incredible dance partner in Acora Acoustics at this year’s Florida Audio Expo. While Acora was downstairs on the main floor stealing all the Florida sunshine with their new VRC, newly minted Acora fans were now roaming the halls of the upper floors looking for Acora’s other listed exhibits. Lucky for Mr. Weber.
Ampsandsound is known for tube amplifiers that take classic American circuit designs of yesteryear and employ the same care in production execution as you would find in the best Japanese tube amplifiers in the world.
On display: electronics from Ampsandsound, speakers from Acora Acoustics, turntable by VPI Industries, digital by Auralic, cables by Cardas.
Reporting by Eric Franklin Shook
The story of Ampsandsound is one that’s still being written for the two-channel space, with several years of experience in the head-fi market already under Justin Weber’s belt. Though, don’t let that dissuade you from auditioning one of his SET or Push-Pull designs. All of which, flex their rated power harder than any we’ve encountered. Ampsandsound’s 14 watts feels more like 60 watts. All of Weber’s designs feature in-house transformer iron, and each amplifier receives iron specifically designed for that model.
In the system at Florida Audio Expo, the new Casablanca monoblocks, which are based on the famed Eico HF 87. An amplifier you may be familiar with, but trust me when I say that you’ve never heard them sound this clean and free of distortions. The clarity and tonal character of the original design is intact, but now: more clear, more powerful, more tuneful, and more dense in all of the critical frequency ranges.
Loudspeakers and racks from Acora Acoustics donned a stunning matte-ish white Quartz finish. The new QRB standmount (bookshelf) speakers are based on the all-granite SRB. The use of quartz does change the weight of the loudspeaker compared to granite, and sound in such a minuscule way that only if the granite SRB and quartz QRB were side-by-side with available A/B switching might you be able to tell the difference with few prayers and paranormal hearing.
I could go into all of the secret sauce(s) of the Acora Acoustics loudspeakers, but I won’t for the sake of read time — just know that the use of granite (or quartz) is not a gimmick, nor is the enclosure material the whole story. From edge-to-edge the Acora loudspeakers and Ampsandsound amps are state of the art, and (together or separate) represent some of the best sound reproduction available at any price.
